This invention relates to handbags or purses. The term "handbag" is used herein in the broad sense of a container of a size to be carried easily in the hand, on the shoulder, or on the back of a user.
Handbags are frequently made from heavy-weight fabrics, such as heavy cloth, leathers, vinyls, and the like. To retain their shape, they are provided with frames or are layered with stiffeners. Non-shaped purses are made with heavy non-stabilized fabrics that tend to misshape when personal items are placed inside. Because both shaped and non-shaped purses require fabrics which are heavier and stronger than normal garment fabrics in order to avoid stretching or tearing under the strain of frames and items in the purse, purses and clothing that match or coordinate are not normally marketed.
Attempts have been made to permit parts of shaped purses to be interchanged in order to allow some measure of fashion coordination. In some, such as Speakes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,187, decorative panels are inserted under a clear plastic cover. In others, such as Gilbert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,985, Houis, U.S. Pat. No. 2,694,427, Campos, U.S. Pat. No. 2,435,870, or Reitzel, U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,078, a fabric cover is releasably held to a rigid frame or body. These approaches lack flexibility, have not been aesthetically satisfactory, and have been difficult to use and change.
Currently available handbags also do not give the wearer the ability of "fine tuning" his or her ensemble. The feminine pronoun is used hereafter for simplicity, but it will be understood that the invention may also be used by men.
Conventional shaped handbags cannot be stored flat or packed flat for travel and cannot be easily cleaned.